David Cameron's Conservatives are losing ground to Labour in the North, a Telegraph
poll finds, as the PM steps up his attack on Labour's union donors

David Cameron is losing support among voters in the North, a poll suggests, as he opens a new front in his war with Labour’s trade union backers.

The Tories are now as unpopular across northern England as they are in Scotland, according to The Sunday Telegraph/ICM survey, as Labour increases its lead in Britain's industrial heartlands.

Voters in the North are now significantly less likely to believe the Conservatives will do well than they were two months ago, with the party’s predicted share of the vote falling from 31 per cent to 29 per cent.

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The review, to be led by a senior QC, marks an escalation in Mr Cameron's political attacks on Ed Miliband over Labour's links to the unions. He has repeatedly called the Labour leadership "weak" for failing to rein in "rogue" union activists.

However, according to the latest ICM Wisdom Index poll, Labour is strengthening its hold in northern England as the Conservatives face losses.

The Wisdom Index survey asks voters to predict how political parties would perform in an election, rather than how they would personally vote.

The poll, conducted between last Wednesday and Friday, suggests the Tories are now as weak in northern areas as they are in Scotland, where the party has struggled for many years.

The proportion of voters living in the north of England who believe the Conservatives will do well at the ballot box has fallen significantly in the last two months.

In September, voters in the north thought the Tories would win 31 per cent of the vote in a general election, on average. However, they now expect the Conservatives to win just 29 per cent, compared to 35 per cent for Labour.

Voters in Scotland also believe the Tories would win 29 per cent of the vote if an election were held now.

The findings will increase pressure on Mr Cameron to do more to prevent the Tories becoming a party which cannot appeal beyond its affluent southern base.

Mr Cameron has appointed a number of northern MPs to prominent positions in government in an effort to widen the party’s appeal beyond its affluent southern base.

In the latest reshuffle last month, Mr Cameron promoted Esther McVey, the former GMTV presenter and MP for Wirral West, to the position of minister of state at the Department for Work and Pensions, in what was seen as an attempt to show that the Tories can appeal to regional voters as well as women.

The ICM Wisdom Index also shows that the Conservatives are expected to win less support from women than men, while for Labour the position is reversed, with more women predicted to vote for Ed Miliband’s party.

Labour’s overall lead over the Conservatives widened by one point, to stand at 33 per cent, since the last Wisdom Index was published in September. The Conservatives overall are on 31 per cent, the same as in September.

The Liberal Democrats remain on 16 per cent while the UK Independence Party is predicted to achieve 12 per cent, the poll found.

Labour’s predicted share of the vote would still leave the party short of the 35 per cent analysts believe it needs to secure an overall majority in the Commons.

Labour insiders believe that the party should be further ahead in the polls at this stage in the parliamentary cycle in order to secure victory at the next election in 2015.

Mr Miliband has been struggling to shake off the scandal over allegations of vote rigging by Unite union officials in the selection of a parliamentary candidate in Falkirk, which dogged Labour during the summer.

Unite has given Labour more than £8million under Mr Miliband’s leadership and the Tories are determined to maintain the pressure on the Labour leader over his links to the union.

Unite deployed what critics have alleged was a “dirty tricks squad” to target and humiliate senior staff of the Ineos chemical company and their families at their homes in a dispute over the Grangemouth oil refinery in Scotland.

Police were called after the group allegedly approached one executive’s neighbours, telling them he was "evil", while the daughter of another had "Wanted" posters denouncing her father posted through her door.

The union has denied using tactics intended to intimidate families and children of company bosses.

The Prime Minister has described the reports as "completely shocking" and now wants to review how existing laws are operating and whether they needed tightening.

Downing Street said that unions had attempted to “sabotage” businesses supply during disputes. “This is an incredibly important issue,” a source said. “There is a lot of concern about this.”

Number 10 said it knew of 60 examples of complaints about union behaviour during recent industrial disputes.

Mr Cameron has appointed Bruce Carr QC to lead the inquiry into intimidation tactics during industrial disputes. An inquiry panel will be appointed including representatives from industry and the unions.

The review will look at the degree and extent of industrial relations problems that have the potential to impact on critical industrial infrastructure.

The inquiry will report to Francis Maude, the Cabinet Office minister, and Vince Cable, the Liberal Democrat Business Secretary.

“That’s why we need an independent review to get to the bottom of these activities, as well as to look at the role played by government, employers and employees in industrial disputes.”

However, the announcement appeared to escalate Coalition tensions last night. Despite Downing Street insisting that Mr Cable was “fully behind” the review, the Business Secretary demanded that it must be “proportional and rational”.

“There are rogue unions but there are also rogue employers, some of whom have in the past engaged in illegal tactics like blacklisting. This government will tolerate neither,” he said.

The inquiry will put further pressure on Mr Miliband, who has refused to re-open a Labour investigation into alleged vote-rigging by Unite officials in Falkirk.

In July, Mr Miliband triggered a major rift with the union after calling in the police to investigate claims that Unite signed up people as party members without their knowledge.

However, he closed the party's investigation in September after claims that one of the families at the heart of the allegations had changed their story. The family has since denied withdrawing its evidence.

Police are now examining a new cache of emails which suggests that Unite and its officials were instrumental in thwarting the Labour Party’s investigation into the union’s influence at Falkirk.

Mr Miliband has faced criticism for not reopening his party's investigation into the claims.

A Unite spokesman said: "This review is a sorry attempt by the Coalition to divert attention from the cost of living crisis.

Vince Cable may not have noticed but the Grangemouth dispute has been settled. This review is nothing more than a Tory election stunt which no trade unionist will collaborate with."

:: ICM Research questioned 2,059 adults aged 18 and over from across Britain online, between November 13 and November 15. Respondents were asked to predict the share of the vote that political parties would achieve "if there were a general election tomorrow".